Evidence of meeting #94 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was campaigns.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Assistant Secretary, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, Treasury Board Secretariat
Yes, as part of the department.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Okay, thanks.
I want to get back to what Mr. Whalen was discussing about how we're breaking up the spending.
We saw a huge drop in the print and radio, and Mr. Whalen was saying that perhaps that's small-market advertising. Would that be correct, or would that be like a nationwide radio service, like a Corus station, or would it be in The Globe and Mail, or the National Post, or is it small-market advertising that's taking the hit?
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
There has been a shift in government spend—
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
—so I think it would probably be a little bit of both, frankly.
On the national print to the local print, you would see reductions in both.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
We saw last night some news from a committee that the government is now talking about a 5% tax, which we term a Netflix tax, with the money being used to support local media.
How much consideration has the media spin given to supporting Canadian broadcasters or print? A huge amount has been spent on Facebook and other U.S. sites. Is there any consideration for that, or is this just where we are getting our best bang for our buck?
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
The answer is twofold. First, for every single campaign, people are doing the research in terms of where their target audience is, and they're making decisions based on that target audience.
The second—
Conservative
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
Yes. If you're at DND and you want to do advertising recruitment for a position on a local base, then you would absolutely be well served to go into print and radio, to—
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
You're missing my question. Is extra consideration being given to supporting them solely because it's a local Canadian business, or is it solely done on the reach of the advertising?
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
I think both would be considered.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thanks.
Ms. Baird, we talked about public opinion polling. It came up in a previous committee, but we didn't get a clear answer. It's been pushed to the DM level, I assume.
Who is directing, though, the DM on what areas we're polling on? I can't imagine the DM is now just running free to decide. Is the choice of polling subjects being physically pushed down for their decision but still getting directed by the government?
Assistant Secretary, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, Treasury Board Secretariat
The deputy head approves the annual POR plan. The head of communications within each department works with the programs and the policy people across the department. The POR is meant to inform policy development and the establishment of programs. There is usually an annual call-out. In our department we do an annual call-out to all of our program and policy colleagues to ask what they'll be working on the next year so that we can start the POR planning.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
How much are we spending on polling? If you don't have the answer, you can get back to us.
Director General, Government Information Services Sector, Department of Public Works and Government Services
The last annual report published on our website was $3.4 million, if I'm correct. Last year, which finished March 31, 2017, there was about $12.5 million.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Budgets over $500,000 are subject to review, which is great. How are we ensuring that a larger project is not getting split into two, three, or four RFPs or bills in order to skirt that regulation?
Assistant Secretary, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, Treasury Board Secretariat
They're based on campaigns, so anything that falls within one campaign can't be split. I would use Canada 150 as a good example. There are many ads in different places through different time periods, but it's considered one campaign, so it's dealt with as a whole. There are rules in place to guide that.
Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs and Youth, Privy Council Office
I would add that it's creative and media buy, the combination of the two.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
You're going to have to get back to me on this next question because I know you're not going to have the answer here.
You've done a great job explaining a lot of the items, but I'm looking at PSPC, the advertising coordination partnerships directorate. We have a communication procurement directorate, a public opinion research directorate, and advertising management information systems. At TBS we have an assistant secretary of strategic communications and ministerial affairs. We have all these positions and bodies overseeing the advertising.
I'd like to hear from each of the departments—you can get back to us later—how much we're paying for all of these positions, directorates, and labour. It gets back to Mr. Whalen's question about how much we've shifted over. We don't have direct advertising costs for media, but now we're bearing the brunt in IT support. I'd like to hear specifically from each of the departments how much we're spending on all of these bodies for oversight, purchasing, and everything else.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
We don't have enough time for detailed answers now. If you could supply that information to the committee through our clerk, it would be much appreciated.
Director General, Government Information Services Sector, Department of Public Works and Government Services
When the government did the major review of advertising and public opinion—I'm talking about 2005-06—to establish a new framework, the logic behind it was to add checks and balances. Today, there is not one single department that could do a campaign from start to finish without coming to Public Works, without having some consultation with PCO, and without going to Treasury Board. That was the logic, although I'm not responsible for the contracting at Public Works. Checks and balances were the key to improving our management of the system.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you. We have to go to Mr. Weir now, but we will have ample opportunity for subsequent questions.
Mr. Weir, you're up for seven minutes, please.
NDP
Erin Weir NDP Regina—Lewvan, SK
Thank you.
I'd like to ask about the criteria for partisanship that Ms. Baird laid out. The last one is, “Advertising specifically must not include the name, voice or image of a minister, member of Parliament or senator.” Is that rule being followed?